Honor Magicbook 14 Notebook Review: Where Style Paints a Picasso
by Dr. Ian Cutress on May 15, 2020 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- AMD
- Notebooks
- Zen
- honor
- Picasso
- MagicBook
- Magicbook 14
- Ryzen 5 3500U
CPU Performance
We have picked a handful of our CPU tests to give a sense of the overall performance of the system. As this is a Picasso based APU, it is built on the Zen+ microarchitecture, and it is expected to perform accordingly.
In our new AI benchmark test, here is the data for Inference and Training combined. This is a test which likes cores, but also the Zen 2 parts do really well here. The Magicbook sits above a first generation Ryzen mobile processors, as well as above the Core i7 in the Matebook Pro X.
WinRAR is a test that likes memory bandwidth, and unfortunately this is one of the downsides of using that older Picasso platform - DDR4-2400 memory speeds aren't that great in the grand scheme of things.
For GeekBench synthetics, we see a small lead over the first generation Ryzen parts in ST, which grows in MT. Still a bit far behind the i7-8550U, however.
Dwarf Fortress is another one of our new benchmarks, which mainly focuses on single core performance. As is perhaps to be expected, the Zen+ processor doesn't go well here, limited by its cTDP down mode which restricts the higher frequencies that the other CPUs are able to reach.
Two rendering tests to finish, and we have the R5 3500U ahead of the i7-8550U in both comparisons.
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philehidiot - Monday, May 18, 2020 - link
For now, I won't buy a laptop which is all type C. I'm not relying on dingles to be able to read USB sticks people give me and I'm also not a fan of using a laptop atop my lap with a dongle dingle dangling from a wire, asking for a passing person to catch it / exerting excessive stress on the port as the angle of the dangle changes repeatedly. The idea of a standard is that anyone can use it. Having to remember your dongle, or being screwed having lost it, completely negates the advantages of a standard that everyone uses. USB C doesn't need to force itself on everyone by removing USB A ports. It needs to become part of a slow transition determined by necessity / superiority / price. I am not buying a load of new USB sticks for no good reason except someone changed the standard and wants prettier laptops.Spunjji - Monday, May 18, 2020 - link
Personally, I prefer a mix. One or two USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 for multi-role use with the right cables, and a bunch of USB-A for 95% of the things one needs USB for in the first place.ads295 - Friday, May 15, 2020 - link
Just curious, what devices do you use that have you hankering for Type-C ports?nicolaim - Friday, May 15, 2020 - link
A laptop is something most people keep for 3, 5, maybe 7 years, so it should have the ports you'll need down the road rather than obsolete ones that are being phased out.USB-C also optionally includes Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, HDMI, charging, 20 Gbit/s data rate, same connector as USB4, etc., none of which are possible with USB-A.
raywin - Friday, May 15, 2020 - link
couldn't agree more, i'm stuck on a 2013 laptop and I want an upgrade but don't want to lose my ports, only option right now is the VAIO, this is so close to perfection I may just get it anyway.Lord of the Bored - Saturday, May 16, 2020 - link
Key word: optionalI don't want schrodinger's port. I want to look at my port and KNOW what it does, not search for the appropriate 1/8" icon.
yankeeDDL - Saturday, May 16, 2020 - link
Wow. How do you use your laptop? Without the "massive" bezel at the bottom the screen would be even lower than it already is and you'd have to look down even more.And "a bunch of USB A ports"? Thank god for that. I have a Portege with 3 ports and have to travel with a hub. I have two mobile phones, a Logitech dongle nearly permanently plugged in. Wireless headset also need charging, USB memory key and a YubiKey for security. Man, there's never enough USB A ports in a laptop.
sonny73n - Saturday, May 16, 2020 - link
The “massive” bezel underneath is perfect. Sometime I lay down on the sofa and watch YouTube while the laptop still on the desk. Nobody should let you design anything, ever.Lord of the Bored - Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - link
Nobody should let you do PR for a communist nation with a history of human rights abuses, and yet here we are. Not everyone does the job they are most suited for.cfenton - Friday, May 15, 2020 - link
Do you have any numbers for the display's color accuracy? It looks terrible in the example, but it's hard to compare to others without numbers. Is it worse than the Swift 3, for example? It's nice to know that it can be calibrated, but I can't imagine many people looking for a budget laptop have color calibration hardware.